iFolder Opens Wider

More on the open source project front … Novell has released additional source code to the iFolder project. Now it’s the iFolder server components that are open source. The project has previously included the iFolder clients for Linux, Macintosh and Windows. The server components include the full iFolder server, with administration, policy management and the Web access module for access to files anytime, anywhere. Interest is growing in the project as the number of registered users has more than doubled in the last few months. The open source community has contributed to documentation, client builds for various Linux desktop distros, and testing of the clients. By making more iFolder code open source, Novell expects the project to progress even faster and help get the complete iFolder solution into more hands that will benefit from it. More info on what iFolder is and does can be found here.

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Disclaimer: This content is not supported by Novell. It was contributed by a community member and is published "as is." It seems to have worked for at least one person, and might work for you. But please be sure to test it thoroughly before using it in a production environment.

Given that Mono is OSS and iFolder server is OSS, if someone outside Novell wants to port them, have a party. The community has the power to make it so if they want, as all the components are open source.

Early on, Novell announced that they would be porting MONO to NetWare, which would have allowed iFolder 3 to work seamlessly on NetWare. Novell recently made the conscience decision to NOT port MONO on NetWare.

The technology is there, but the desire from Novell Management is not.

For those too lazy to read it, here are two Q&As that directly mention NetWare, MONO, and iFolder:

“BSD: What is Novell doing to attract more developers to the NetWare platform?

Anderson: Novell has completely embraced all open source development tools and servicesfrom the foundation frameworks of AMP, to providing services on the Linux platform to the Eclipse development platform. There’s no shortage of toolsor developers, for that matter. Through Mono, Novell is bringing open source and Microsoft* developers together, and providing a very intriguing write-once-run-anywhere opportunity.

The NetWare development team also actively collaborates with the open source community on the Novell Forge Website. Novell has launched more than 50 internal projects on this sitewhich now hosts more than 250 open source projects.

BSD: What is the best-kept secret of NetWare 6.5?

Anderson: Without question, it’s Novell iFolder. When people find out about iFolder for the first time, the common response is “Wow, I didn’t know NetWare had that.” iFolder combines the best of storing files on the network with the best of storing files on your PC. Rather than manually copying and synchronizing files from the F: drive to your notebook, iFolder automatically handles all of this. Users have access to their files offline, with automatic backup when they reconnect. Within Novell, our employees use iFolder every day.”

So, why does Novell no longer want to port MONO to NetWare, thus allowing for iFolder (and many other products) to work on NetWare?

What is the business decision that gives Novell’s customers a choice in OES between the NetWare kernel and the Linux kernel, but only developing for Linux, thus shutting out completely any chance of customers moving to the NetWare kernel?

IOW, why is Novell sticking it to the customers who want to stay with NetWare?